Pokemon Master Ichigo Kurosaki!
by Sabre G
Summary: Ichigo Kurosaki, a boy from the Karakura islands wanting to become a great trainer loyal Pokemon by his side and a long journey ahead, will his determination be enough for him to reach Kanto, and then, will he be able to prove that he's good enough to become the great trainer he wants to be.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is the beginning of a new crossover, hope you enjoy, new chapter soon hopefully.**

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A small orange haired boy walked along the beach near his hometown, his name was Ichigo kurosaki. Ichigo lived in a small house in the Karakura islands, a small group of islands close to the Kalos region. He came to the beach frequently to see the Pokémon that inhabited it and to play with them.

He was glad to say he'd made a few friends with these Pokémon and he'd bring food down to them every time he visited. Today he brought twice as much hoping to make new friends with some of the Pokémon that he'd yet to speak to... he meant that literally, ever since he could remember he'd been able to understand Pokémon and converse with them making it easier to make friends with them.

Not many people other than his family knew of his gift simply because he'd never told them, nor had he seen the need to tell many people. Professor Urahara and his assistants were the only other people apart from his family and close friends to know about his gift and Professor Urahara had come up with many theory's but all had yet to be proven.

Ichigo sighed when he noticed that the tides were in, meaning that most of the beach was now taken over by water instead of sand, but with new tides came new Pokémon. He watched as a small group of Krabby led by a Kingler scurry across the sands into a small crevice in the side of a rock wall.

Then he saw more Pokémon heading into the crevice, and when he finally saw a Pokémon he recognised he didn't hesitate to run to it and check what was going on.

"Wingull, what's going on, why are all the Pokémon gathering in that small crevice?" Ichigo asked walking up to one of his first Pokémon friends. The small bird in question happily flew and landed on Ichigo's held out arm.

"(Ichigo, it's amazing, a Pokémon egg washed in with the tides! I've never seen an egg like it and rumours among the Pokémon are saying that it'll hatch into a prince of the sea!)" The seagull Pokémon chirped happily. Ichigo reached his free hand into the bag hanging by his side and dug out some Poké food and fed it to the flying type.

"Can I go see it? It sounds interesting; Maybe Hat and clogs can help. He has incubators at his lab." Ichigo asked to the bird that now jumped of his arm onto the ground next to him. "(I don't think the other Pokémon would like that you know how they are with humans, but you should at least be able to see the egg, after all you've made friends with pretty much the whole beach.)" The Wingull said before flying to the entrance of what looked like a small cave.

Slipping through the thin crevice he continued to walk forward through a narrow passage, eventually it widened and that when he saw the large group of Pokémon sat around a glowing blue egg, though it had smaller rings made of orbs inside the outer transplant egg shell.

Bubbles floated in the air acting as a light source for the Pokémon, the egg itself was laid on a pile of leaves a sand to make a nest as comfy as possible, but it still didn't look too comfy for the blue egg. Thinking fast he took of his jacket and wrapped it around the egg to help keep it warm before he turned and sat down with a group of Pelipper.

"Hi guys, how come none of you come to tell me the news?" Ichigo asked as he took out some bowls from his bag and began filling them with Poké food, much to the excitement of the younger Pokémon as they swarmed the bowls and began eating happily giving their thanks to Ichigo.

"(None of us dared to leave the eggs side in case it hatched, sorry.)" One of the Pelipper said regretfully. Ichigo waved it off, too excited to care. "It's no problem I understand, Wingull told me that some of the Pokémon are saying that this is going to be a prince of the sea, I can imagine that you're all as excited as I am." Ichigo replied while stroking a Rattata that was wolfing down food.

The day went on and Ichigo's seeming everlasting amount of food was thinning out, he saved some for the Pokémon that was due to hatch. Many of the older Pokémon that had families believed that the egg would hatch soon given the signs of movement to egg was giving, so Ichigo had written a note and had one of the Krabby's take it to his home explaining that he'd be late home.

Night fell and there was still no luck with the egg, Ichigo had tucked it into his thick jacket to make sure it was warm and some of the other Pokémon had gathered around it while they slept to share their body heat, Ichigo wasn't cold either since some Rattatas and Pelippers had snuggled up to him as they slept to make sure he stayed warm as well, but as the other Pokémon fell to sleep one by one Ichigo couldn't take his gaze of the small egg. He was too excited to sleep, excited at the prospect of seeing a rare Pokémon, and maybe even making friends with it.

After all the Pokémon had drifted off to sleep Ichigo laid awake watching the egg, he noticed how it was moving a lot more now and it was actually beginning to shift positions with its nudges side to side. Ichigo was quick to act when he saw this, he shook some of his friends awake and pointed to the egg which was now showing no sign of stopping its movements, and as soon as the older Pokémon of the group saw it they knew it was time. The egg was ready to hatch.

And just as the last of the Pokémon surrounded the egg, it began glowing in a brilliant bright white and it's egg shape changed into a small body and lager head with two antenna like appendages sprouting from its head. As the light died down they all watched in fascination at the small blue Pokémon.

It seemed comfortable; being snuggled into Ichigo's jacket tightly and looked around at the assorted Pokémon with interest, before its eyes landed on Ichigo's and stayed there watching him with curiosity.

"Hello, I'm Ichigo, what's your name?" Ichigo asked kindly while walking forward with his bag, he was quick to ready up the last of the food for the new born Pokémon and placed the overflowing bowl of food directly next to it.

"Here take this; you must be hungry, just being hatched and all." Ichigo said as he sat next to the bowl cross legged. "(Mana-phy.)" The small Pokémon said as it shakily walked forward dragging Ichigo's jacket like a blanket.

"Is that your name, Manaphy?" Ichigo asked as the small Pokémon stopped directly in front of him and sat down with him, still staring at him with curiosity. Ichigo stared back, unsure of what to do next, some of the other Pokémon came closer to the two and looked on with wide eyes at the interactions between the two.

"Want some food, it tastes good and it'll help you grow up strong." Ichigo reassured grabbing some of the food in his hand and offering it to the newborn. Manaphy took the food and was quick to take a bite, and then another, then another and before anyone knew it the small Pokémon was eating twice its body weight in Poké food. The Manaphy sighed happily before laying itself against Ichigo's legs and proceeding to fall asleep.

"I guess Manaphy's tired... Hey, is this the Pokémon that the rumours said it would be, I mean, I've never heard of a Manaphy before let alone see one." Ichigo asked to elder of the Pokémon, which was an old female Pelipper.

"(Yes, this Pokémon species is known as prince of the sea, or in this case, princess of the sea. It seems to have taken a liking to you, I doubt that she'd like to be separated from you for awhile at least she seems to think of you as her father figure, like most Pokémon when they hatch she saw you among us and she may think that you're her father...)" Pelipper explained causing Ichigo's eyes to widen.

"You don't mean that do you? I'm only eight, I'm not allowed Pokémon yet." Ichigo said hesitantly. The other Pokémon gathered around him and the Manaphy as he spoke, still entranced by the small water Pokémon.

"(Well I'm sure that if it came down to it you wouldn't mind raising a Pokémon, you've been taking care of the beach Pokémon for a long time so it won't be too different. Though I wouldn't tell many people about her yet, Manaphy are incredibly rare and if the wrong person sees her they may try taking her away.)" The Pokémon continued. The fact that people may try taking Manaphy away didn't sit well with Ichigo, his eyes hardened.

"I will not allow someone to take her away because she's rare, if she doesn't want to go with someone then I'll protect her." Ichigo determinedly, his determination made the other Pokémon smile. "(Then I think Manaphy will be safe under your care.)" The big bird said.

They continued to talk for awhile into the night, Ichigo knew that he should have been home by now since he said that he'll only be late home, he didn't say he'd be gone all night. But he pushed that to the back of his mind as he finally feel to sleep, while Manaphy moved into his lap and curled up in his jacket as she slept.

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The next morning Ichigo was awoken by a sudden peck on the side of his head making his eyes snap open. He turned to where he felt the pain and saw a Wingull sat on his shoulder; he looked around and saw that the Pokémon had long since awoken and were now sat around him. Manaphy still in his lap looked up at him with big eyes before giving him a huge smile.

"(Good morning Papa!)" Manaphy shouted happily causing Ichigo's eyes to widen. He quickly remembered the conversation with Pelipper last night and sighed, it seemed the Pokémon was right and he really was a father figure to the small water Pokémon.

"Good morning Manaphy, how are you feeling?" Ichigo asked not knowing what to do with a newborn but feeling happy that he was important to the small Pokémon. The small Pokémon was still wrapped in his jacket like a blanket and seemed to be a lot more mature then she was yesterday.

"(Hungry, but Rattata and auntie Pelipper have gone to gather some food for us. They told me a lot this morning, about who I am and who you are Papa.)" The Manaphy said, it surprised Ichigo how much she was talking already but he guessed that it was only normal for Pokémon to learn speech a lot faster than humans.

"Okay, well I guess we should wait for them to return then I should go see my family, they will be worried about me." Ichigo said with a sigh, he wasn't looking forward to the greeting that was waiting for him when he got home. Manaphy looked excited.

"(Papa's family?! Do I have a grandpa and grandma as well?)" Manaphy asked hopefully. Ichigo smiled at her excitement. "Yeah, you also have two other aunties, my sisters, Yuzu and Karin." Ichigo said with a warm smile, he was already beginning to enjoy Manaphy's innocence and curiosity.

"I'm sure all of them will be happy to see you." Ichigo added thinking about how Yuzu and his mother would gush all over the cute little Pokémon. Manaphy seemed as happy as he was, she was joyful that her papa would be taking her to see her family and even more joyful that they'd be happy to see her.

A squawk announced the return of Pelipper, and as Pelipper entered the small cave with a Rattata on her back, they noticed the berries tucked under the wing of Pelipper and as soon as she was in front of Manaphy she let them drop, varieties of different berries from the sweet to the bitter piled up on the floor in front of Manaphy, whom wasted no time to pounce on the food along with some of the other smaller Pokémon.

Manaphy seemed to enjoy it more than most since it was her first time tasting all these different flavours, it was a funny sight to see when she first found a sour berry and eat it, her reaction consisted of quickly wiping the sour substance of her tongue. After some time of testing and trying new flavours Manaphy had her fill of berries and was sat on Ichigo's lap again.

"(Thank you auntie Pelipper for the food, and for telling me about myself.)" Manaphy thanked while rewrapping the arms of Ichigo's jacket back around herself. Ichigo smiled at her actions, he didn't mind giving up his jacket in return for a new family member.

"(No worries young one, now I was under the impression that Ichigo needed to be home, I assume you'll be heading off with him Manaphy?)" The friendly Pelipper asked to which Manaphy nodded excitedly.

"(Will we be going now Papa?)" Manaphy asked leaning her head backwards to look up at him making him smirk. "If you want to come meet the rest of our family now then you can, shall we go?" Ichigo asked back to which Manaphy nodded and held her arms out motioning for Ichigo to pick her up which he gently did.

"(Let's hurry Papa, I want to meet them!)" Manaphy whined making Ichigo chuckle before waving goodbye to his friends and left the small cave coming out to a rather populated beach, he ignored most of the strange looks he and Manaphy was getting from people who didn't recognise the Pokémon in his arms.

"(Is that the sea Papa?)" She asked while looking out to the vast blue ocean. Ichigo nodded and smiled. "We'll bring you down here later and you can play in it with me Yuzu and Karin, not to mention all the Pokémon that will want to play as well." Ichigo replied down to her happily. Manaphy nodded hoping that he'd keep his word and allow her to play with the others.

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Ichigo stood at his door and sighed before trying to open the door silently, he should have known better because as soon at his hand touched the door knob the door flung open and he was instantly shot in the face with a water pistol in the hands of his erratic father.

"Ha Ha! You think you can stay out all night and serve no punishment! This is the first of many—" and his father's claims were cut short when Manaphy used a water gun and shot Ichigo's father back hitting him in the face causing him to fall over when he stepped back and slipped on a puddle that had pooled at his feet.

"Nice shot Manaphy! You got him right in the face!" Ichigo said proudly not even paying attention to his now groaning father on the fall as he walked past with a happily chirping Manaphy in his hands.

"What's this, you got a Pokémon Ichigo?" the voice of his mother asked making him turn and see his mother coming down the stairs with a raised eyebrow. Ichigo smiled sheepishly while Manaphy waved happily greeting her grandma with a happy "Mana-Mana!" well that's how it sounded to Masaki since she couldn't understand Pokémon like Ichigo.

"Well she is part of the reason I didn't come home last night, you see all the Pokémon from the beach told me about an egg that had washed up, and Manaphy was in that egg. It wasn't until late last night she hatched." Ichigo summarised leaving out the being the Pokémon's father part.

"Well I'm glad you're safe Ichigo, but I don't think I've even seen a Manaphy before, nor heard of one..." Masaki trailed off before asking another question. "And shouldn't the Pokémon be taking care of her, not you?" his mother asked making him chuckle nervously.

"Ah! I see, you her father, you was there when she hatched, and she took a liking to you right?" the voice of his father asked making him turn around to see his father had already recovered from the water blast to the face.

Ichigo sighed, he should have known he wouldn't be able to fool his father, he was a Pokémon researcher after all and often worked with professor Urahara. His mother had long since quit her time in Pokémon archaeology but used to be well renowned for her work with ancient Pokémon.

"Well yeah, I'm sort of this Manaphy's surrogate father, and I told her I'd show her to the rest of our family. So I guess she counts as your grandchild or something." Ichigo said while blushing furiously in embarrassment about what he'd just said.

"She's cute, can I hold her?" Masaki asked opening her arms to accept her new 'grandchild' the Manaphy gladly jumped into the arms of her new 'grandmother' while also crying out in happiness of being accepted and happiness of having a family. Masaki could stop herself from gushing over Manaphy as both nuzzled cheeks as they hugged.

"I want to hold my new Grandchild too!" Isshin whined and as he went to take the Manaphy from Masaki Manaphy turned and shot him in the face with a water gun attack again making him stumble and gurgle. Ichigo didn't even try hiding his smirk.

"Manaphy's a really rare Pokémon, a Pelipper told me that they are second only to Kyogre in terms of holding the sea Pokémon's respect." Ichigo stated in a proud voice showing how happy he was to have Manaphy with him.

"Well I suppose that it'll be good training for when you start your Pokémon adventure in two years, and I'm sure Yuzu and Karin will be happy to see her when they wake up. What do you plan to do with Manaphy now though; do you know how to raise a Pokémon?" Masaki asked not even throwing a glance to her husband who was trying to rub the water out of his face.

"Well I was thinking of taking her to Professor Urahara and ask him for some tips on raising her." Ichigo admitted, not enjoying the fact that he needed to crazy professor's help. Masaki smiled down at him, handing Manaphy back to her 'father' before speaking.

"Okay, we'll talk to the people at the harbour to see if any of them can spare a boat for us to sail over to his island on." Masaki agreed happy at her son's reasonability. Ichigo beamed in delight at his mother agreeing to his idea.

Before anything else could be said a stomping of feet could be heard making them all turn to the stairs to see three figures running down the stairs energetically. Two figures were Ichigo's younger sisters both aged four and also a small Pokémon that plays with them, a young Mime Jr. That had played with them since they were born and somewhere along the line became their best friend.

"Ichi!" they cried happily when they saw him, they were both about to run and embrace him but stopped when they saw a Pokémon in his arms already. It took Yuzu all of four seconds before she was stroking the small Pokémon and calling it cute.

Manaphy seem to like the attention since she nuzzled her face towards Yuzu as she was stroking her. "What's going on Ichi, since when did you have a Pokémon?" Karin asked as she watched her sister, she shyly avoided the small blue water Pokémon.

Ichigo spent some time explaining everything to his family while they sat down for breakfast, they accepted it easy enough. Manaphy had chosen to sit on the table in front Ichigo and ate her small second breakfast while the others spoke.

The family decided that they will head to the beach and allow Manaphy some time to play in the water, while also making it a family day out. But that had to wait for Isshin to get into contact with Kisuke about allowing them onto his island.

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The family walked onto the beach and as soon as the first Pokémon saw Manaphy the rest of the water type Pokémon had gathered around the small Pokémon like royalty, which to them, she was. As soon as Ichigo placed Manaphy on the sand to play with the Pokémon she made a b-line towards the sea wanting to play in the water instead.

"Come on Karin, Yuzu lets go!" Ichigo called as he took his shirt off leaving only swimming shorts on and began running to the water, followed up by his two sisters that had inflatable rings around their waist and a mime Jr. Jogging to keep up.

Ichigo wasted no time before jumping into the water to play with his new family member. At first he couldn't see Manaphy anywhere in the water, well that was until he felt a water gun hit him in the back of his head, quickly turning he spotted the giggling Manaphy before she dived back under water.

This sparked a full blown water fight between the family and the other Pokémon, Magikarps would jump and splash at them, the Wingull's would swoop down and fire weak bubble beams into the water trying to hit the other Pokémon. Even Mime Jr. joined in using psychic to form balls of water then proceed to throw them at the others.

Ichigo was limited to simply using his arms to splash the other but nonetheless had lot of fun with the other Pokémon.

Suddenly he felt himself being lifted into the air, he looked around and noticed all the other Pokémon had stopped their games and looked at him with wide eyes. Gulping he looked down to what was lifting him up and saw the head of a giant Gyarados, then he saw Manaphy riding on the tip of its head giggling to herself.

"(Splash them!)" She called to the Gyarados, who happily obeyed and flicked his tail at the group of Pokémon creating a wave that fell on them and effectively winning the water fight. Surprisingly the Gyarados was laughing along with Manaphy at the reactions of the others, and the other humans on the beach had already evacuated the water in fear of intimidating sea serpent.

"(We won Papa!)" Manaphy said happily, the Gyarados roar in agreement. Ichigo laughed, knowing that Gyarados were meant to be a fearsome Pokémon yet this one seemed as playful as Manaphy. He stroked the scales of the Gyarados causing it to turn its head to him, it was still seemingly happy.

"Good to meet you Gyarados, I'm Ichigo, Manaphy's Papa." Ichigo greeted and Manaphy came sliding down the body of the serpent until she reached him and when she did she jumped up and embraced him in happiness.

"(You are truly lucky to be so close to such an amazing Pokémon, Ichigo.)" Gyarados said not realising that Ichigo could understand him. Ichigo smiled at the Pokémon. "You can be close to Manaphy too, so will you, the more friends the better right?" Ichigo replied causing the water Pokémon to look at him in shock.

"(You understood me?)" It asked still trying to believe what he was seeing, Ichigo just nodded with a smile. "So what do you say, Friends?" Ichigo asked again with Manaphy smiling as well as she looked at to Gyarados.

"(I'd be happy to be your friend, would you like a ride around the island, I would like to talk more and I get the feeling I'm not wanted here.)" Gyarados said while motioning to the other people on the beach, the Pokémon had long since got over their shock and were now back to playing. Manaphy looked up at him hopefully, causing Ichigo to smirk.

"Sure, and as for the others, they fear you because they don't understand you. That's why I have more Pokémon friends then I do human, because I can understand them." Ichigo said happily. "Will you get a bit closer to shore; I need to tell my family where we're going." Ichigo asked the friendly serpent. Gyarados nodded and headed for the shore, just close enough for Ichigo to yell to his father and mother.

"I'm going for a ride on Gyarados! I'll be back soon!" Ichigo shouted waving, Gyarados roared in greeting to his parents. Masaki seemed worried but trusted her sons judgment, Isshin was too busy dodging water blasts from the Pokémon to fully hear him, but still gave a thumbs up to Ichigo.

The other people looked at the spectacle in confusion and fear for the child that appeared to be in danger, yet seemed to be enjoying himself. Most were too busy watching the Gyarados swim away to notice the small Manaphy sat comfortably in front of Ichigo.

They surfed along the edge of the island; the Karakura islands consisted of several groups of small islands and in the middle of the cluster of islands was one bigger island which is the town Ichigo lived in. The other islands were mostly populated by Pokémon from all over the world, while Professor Urahara had an island to himself claiming it to be for research on Pokémon.

Gyarados turned out to be nice company, conversing a lot with Ichigo and Manaphy, he claimed to be happy to be able to serve Manaphy but to become friends with her was an honour. He was still pretty shocked about Ichigo's ability's as well but was happy to finally speak to a human, asking lots of questions about the human ways of life.

"(Do you plan to become a Pokémon trainer one day Ichigo?)" Gyarados asked curiously. Ichigo nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I want to become a great trainer, I want to travel to far away regions and meet new Pokémon, though I'll never force my Pokémon to battle not like those people on TV I can always hear what the Pokémon have to say about their trainers when battling and it sickens me, my Pokémon will be part of mine and Manaphy's family not a slave that has no choice but to battle." Ichigo claimed with determination.

Gyarados looked at him from the corner of his eyes, and although it was hard to tell, Gyarados was smiling and the young boy's proclamation. "(When the time comes, and if you still hold the same mind set I'll be happy to join your travels, and I'll be proud to fight for your and Manaphy's family.)" The Gyarados told the young boy making Ichigo's eyes widen in shock.

"You'd want to become part of our family?" Ichigo asked in shock, he'd never even spoke to a Gyarados before let alone thought of training one. Gyarados nodded. "(I too would love to see the world, and the only other choice if I don't get caught by a trainer is that I go alone, I'd much prefer to travel with you and Manaphy. You are special, you can understand Pokémon and you befriend them like it's second nature to you, that's why I believe that travelling with you would be much more fun than any other trainer. So will you take me with you?)"

"I'd love you have you with me! Well have lots of fun I promise, isn't that right Manaphy?" Ichigo replied excitedly Manaphy cheered in response and the prospect of having fun with her new friend and her Papa.

They continued surfing around for a few hours, speaking to many water Pokémon that would pop their heads out of the water or flying Pokémon that flew alongside them. Ichigo, Gyarados and Manaphy all spoke about where to start their adventure and it was decided that their first target would be Kanto.

The Karakura islands would be good for training but they had no gyms or Pokémon leagues since it was such a small place, meaning that they'd travel to some of the bigger regions for their adventure. Manaphy didn't know anything about the other regions meaning it was mostly up to Gyarados and Ichigo to decide where to travel to.

When it was about noon the water Pokémon and Ichigo went back to the beach, he was happy to see that his sisters were on the sand building sand castles with the Pokémon, his father and mother were sat on a picnic blanket watching from a distance.

Gyarados came straight onto the beach, leaving his tail in the water as Ichigo jumped off his back with Manaphy in his arms. His father and mother calmly walked to him with smiles on their faces.

"Ichigo, this is amazing, are all these Pokémon your friends? When you said you had Pokémon friends at the beach this wasn't what I was expecting." Masaki said in wonder, proud of her son being able to bring Pokémon together so easily.

"Yeah but I only met Gyarados today thanks to Manaphy, he said that he wants to come with me when I become a trainer." Ichigo said stroking the blue scales of the Gyarados gently. His father almost had a coughing fit when he heard that.

"You haven't even started your adventure yet and you're already gaining Pokémon to join you? Powerful ones at that, I mean look at this Gyarados, he doesn't look like a push over." Isshin praised causing the Gyarados to let out a confident roar at his boosted ego. Much to Ichigo's amusement since he could understand the Gyarados roaring. "(You bet I'm no push over, I'll be the strongest Gyarados one day!)"

"Well Ichigo, we should be heading to Professor Urahara's island know, he's been waiting for you while you've been off with Gyarados." Masaki said kindly. Ichigo nodded.

"(I can take you Ichigo, I'm to be your Pokémon after all, that Professors Island isn't far from here.)" Gyarados said lowering his head next to the young boy. Ichigo smiled and nodded eagerly. "That'd be awesome, you two can go on the boat, me and Manaphy are getting a ride with Gyarados again. I'll meet you there!" Ichigo exclaimed while jumping back on Gyarados.

Gyarados didn't wait for Ichigo's parents to say anything before he turned and shot back into the water; Manaphy was happily lean over the edge putting on of her arms into the water making water splashing in a trail behind her.

Professor Urahara's island wasn't too far from town, in fact it was one of the closer islands, the island had two shores, one was a small beach and on the other shore was a more rock terrain, the middle of the island was covered in meadows and forests and on the rock part of the island was many caves in the side of a mountain which was perfect for rock Pokémon, dragon and flying types of any others that live in caves or high places.

You could see the lab from the coast, if you could call it a lab... it was a medium sized building with a windmill attached to its side but overall looked like a normal two story building. Gyarados made quick work in getting to the island ripping through the tides easily and landing itself on the beach of the island.

What was unexpected though was that Urahara was already on the beach waiting for him, smiling like the Gyarados wasn't even there. Kisuke stood in his usual attire, a green bucket hat, cane and a fan, wooden clogs for shoes and of course his white lab jacket which didn't suit the rest of his clothes at all.

"Ah, Ichigo, I've been waiting for you, come with me to the lab and I'll see if I can help you. Also, I'll have Tessai bring some food out for the Gyarados if you'd like." Ichigo nodded quickly turning to Gyarados. "I'll be back soon, I just need his help to get information on raising Manaphy, you don't have to wait but food will be coming so help yourself to that okay?" Ichigo said soothingly and the Gyarados nodded and eagerly awaited the food.

Ichigo follow Urahara into the Lab which when inside was filled with computers and pictures of rare Pokémon and maps of the regions. Ichigo briefly waved to Tessai who was walking with a massive bowl of food presumably for Gyarados.

Manaphy looked nervous and clung to Ichigo like a life line, not that he minded, he knew better than anyone that Professor Urahara was a weird guy. They sat at a round table, in the middle of the table was a black box looking like a tool box of some kind.

"Well it's nice to see you again Ichigo, and it's good to meet you Manaphy. Now I've never seen a Manaphy before, though I've read a lot about your kind and where you came from. I can give Ichigo a book to read to you if you'd like, it's very interesting." The Pokémon professor said perking the interest of Manaphy who shyly nodded, still not sure if she should trust him or not, but she did loosen her grip on Ichigo a bit. Ichigo himself was interested in the story of Manaphys.

"Ichigo, may I ask the story about the Gyarados outside, I expected to see you coming by boat so imagine my surprise when I see you on the cameras riding in on a Gyarados." Kisuke asked sounding amused.

"He's one of my friends; he wants to join me and Manaphy when we start out Pokémon adventure." Ichigo explained quickly not going into too much detail. Luckily Kisuke didn't pry.

"Well onto the subject at hand then, I have some food for Manaphy that you can take home, I've also wrote down the best foods you should buy while she's growing up. Along with other notes and factors you should take into consideration like making sure she's always washed in clean and pure water since her body is made of 80% water she's sensitive to tainted water while she's young, but she'll grow out of that." Kisuke said seeming to know a lot about the traits of Manaphy.

"I would have brought the food to you but I have a proposition for you, now that you have not only one but two Pokémon. Why not start training early? I'll give you the equipment needed to start training Manaphy when she matures in about a month's time. I'll also put some notes and food aside for Gyarados." Kisuke started shocking Ichigo, the thought of starting early and beginning his adventure sounded too good to be true, a long awaited dream come true.

"I have lots of useful equipment in this box, twelve custom pokeballs tailored to you and your way with Pokémon, they are as comfortable for Pokémon as possible for the technology available to us. Also a respirator for any underwater endeavours you may want to try after reading that book. And my latest invention..." he trailed off opening the box and pulling out a long belt which seemed to be slightly thinker then the usual pokeball holding belt.

"This belt not only holds your Pokémon but can switch out with any other Pokémon while on the go not having to stop at a pokecenter to change any of your Pokémon. And of course it's registered to this island, I set up a Pokémon management system a few years ago but it never got used thanks to the lack of trainers from these islands. You're Pokémon will have this whole island to themselves... well apart from me." Kisuke said, and it was everything Ichigo could ask for, what any trainer could ask for.

"You won't be qualified for travelling to other regions until your ten but that doesn't mean you can't explore these islands and catch new Pokémon here, plenty of powerful Pokémon reside in these islands, I have catalogued all that I can but I'll give you a pokedex in case you find anything new."

"You really mean you'll let me be a trainer? And with all this cool stuff too?" Ichigo asked, even Manaphy looked excited completely forget her worries of the Professor and hoping to have fun on this adventure that's available to her and her Papa.

"All you have to do Ichigo is put the Karakura islands on the map, never has this set of islands been known for anything important, we've never had successful trainers but our islands have so much potential with the wide range of Pokémon here that have migrated from many different regions. All you have to do is prove to the world that we can be great, as great as the main regions make us proud Ichigo." Kisuke said with a smile already knowing Ichigo would go far in his journeys whether that is in tournaments or any other path he may take.

"I will, I promise I'll do my best to prove that we aren't just some islands, I'll prove that we can be great! Isn't that right Manaphy!" Ichigo encouraged. She beamed in excitement. "(You bet ya, we'll be the best!)" She Exclaimed.

Ichigo put on his new equipment, his belt held all his Pokeballs and even his underwater respirator. He turned to Manaphy with a smile. "Will you do me the honours of being my first Pokémon?" he asked holding out a custom Pokeball which had a black top and white bottom. Manaphy nodded eagerly and the button allowing herself to be caught without putting up a fight. Ichigo quickly released her again.

"Don't worry I won't force you to stay in the pokeball, it just stops you being caught by anyone else, and if you get hurt I can put you in it to help you heal." Ichigo promised her making her smile. "(It wasn't too bad... it was fairly comfy actually, I may go in it when I want to sleep and your walking!)" She said happily making Ichigo smile at her.

"As I said, these pokeballs were made by me, I know how you feel towards Pokémon so I've made it that the Pokémon can release themselves at their will, I also made it so it should focus on comfort for your Pokémon." Kisuke explained making Manaphy smirk knowing that she could come out and annoy her father whenever she felt like it after she's slept.

"Now time for your official starter, I can't register you as a trainer when your starter is a Manaphy or Gyarados, so as in all other regions I'll offer you three Pokémon and you have to choose one of them." Kisuke explain placing three pokeballs on the table, all three opened showing the three Pokémon he had to choose from.

On the left was a Ralts, in the middle was an Abra and on the right was a Beldum. The Ralts didn't even acknowledge him, opting to look at a wall which was apparently more interesting. The Abra was simply sleeping soundly not seeming to notice that he was outside of the pokeball. The Beldum on the other hand looked at Ichigo and the Pokémon in his hand with curiosity. Out of all of them the Beldum seemed like the only one who would take an interest in adventure, which made the decision fairly easy for him.

"Beldum, would you like to join my family on an adventure; you'll be joined by Manaphy and a Gyarados as well, what do you think, interest you?" Ichigo asked leaning forward with Manaphy who greeted the Beldum happily.

"(Manaphy. Is this going to be worth it, is he a good trainer, will I be taken care of?)" The Beldum asked the other Pokémon before making its decision. Manaphy smiled. "(My Papa will be the best of trainers, and he cares deeply for Pokémon so you'll be looked after. And he can also speak with us, he understands what we're saying!)" Manaphy said giggling.

"It's true Beldum, I really can understand what you say, I promise to care for you and as for if I'm a good trainer, well I'm only just starting right now so I won't be the best, but I will grow with you guys, I'll train with you and I'll become strong with you, if you'll let me." Ichigo answered confidently meaning every word.

Beldum looked at the boy with curiosity, something told the small Pokémon that this boy was special, he could understand and communicate but above all else the still young boy had determination enough to push through the trails that every trainer faces and come out stronger.

"(I shall join you; I believe that you will be a reliable trainer.)" The psychic and steel type said hovering over to its new trainer. Kisuke returned to other two Pokémon and snapped Beldum's normal pokeball leaving ash to capture it in his custom pokeball. Releasing it again straight away, Ichigo quickly explained the new features on his pokeball so his Beldum knew that when in the pokeball he wasn't trapped.

"Thank you for this chance Professor Hat and clogs, I'll make these islands proud I promise." Ichigo said with as much sincerity he could muster. Kisuke just smiled and told him to catch Gyarados already. After that Ichigo wasted no time in running to the beach to greet his friend, and to his joy the Gyarados had waited even when told it didn't have to.

Though Ichigo seemed to walk into an unusual situation, Gyarados stood at its full height, obviously trying to be intimidating while glaring down at Tessai who in turn stood his ground while looking up to the sea serpent with the sun glinting of his glasses making it unable to see his eyes. The tension was high, as if one was waiting for the other to make a move, the way Gyarados glared down at the man would terrify any normal person but the way Tessai glasses hid his eyes was just unnerving and terrifying in its own way... it felt like a battle for dominance between the two.

"Erm, what's going on here?" Ichigo asked unsure what he was seeing. Gyarados looked relieved to see him. "(I have no idea, I was eating the food he left then he just continued to stare at me, he's seriously creeping me out...)" the Gyarados explained.

"Ah, young Ichigo, I was simply waiting for Gyarados to finish eating so that I can retrieve the bowl." Tessai said kindly. Ichigo just nodded numbly as Gyarados wolfed down the last of the food before practical throwing the bowl at the man and watched uncomfortably as the man took the bowl and walked away like nothing happened.

"(That was creepy on so many levels...)" the Gyarados muttered. Ichigo had to agree, there weren't many people who'd stare down a Gyarados just to get a bowl. He pushed the strange conflict aside and turned to Gyarados with a big smile.

"Gyarados, meet Beldum, he's technically my starter Pokémon! The Professor made me a trainer early, I'm not allowed to other regions yet but we can explore these islands and train for the day we can start our journey in Kanto! That is if you still wish to be with our family Gyarados, so do you?" Ichigo asked, Gyarados instantly looked shocked by the great news and nodded his head with excitement, now he could grow strong to one day travel the world.

"(Of course Ichigo, I will always keep my word, and as long as your intensions stay the same and your determination doesn't waver then I'll always be part of your family, now you should hurry up and catch me, before someone else does.)" Gyarados roared in excitement. Ichigo placed the black pokeball on the sand in front of him.

"This is a custom pokeball, it's meant to be a lot more comfortable then a normal pokeball, and you can release yourself at anytime so you're not trapped in it either. I just ask that you only let yourself out when you're outside, if you got out while inside you may cause some damage..." Ichigo trailed off, Gyarados wasted no more time leaning down and allowing the pokeball to capture him. Then without Ichigo's command the ball opened revealing the large sea serpent, it howled in enjoyment and anticipation for the adventures to come.

"Ichigo, I forgot to hand you your last piece of equipment!" The voice of Urahara called out making Ichigo turn with an eyebrow raised, the same with his Pokémon. Kisuke walked over and handed a small watch type device to Ichigo, along with the book that he forgot to pick up.

"This device will act as a communicator, a pokedex and trainer ID and also with this you can tell me which Pokémon you want to switch out of your belt even from other regions this will work. It allows me to video call you and vise versa, I'm also working on a communicator for your family so you can contact them as well but that will not be done for another week or so yet." Kisuke explained while strapping the small black watch type device to his hand, it seemed to be touch screen and also had a scan function which Ichigo guessed was for the pokedex part of the device.

"I want you to come visit me frequently so I can keep an eye on your Pokémon's health and make sure they're healthy, and also when you capture a Pokémon that exceeds the six you're able to carry it will be sent to me and I'll let it roam the island to its leisure." Kisuke steeped back and smiled.

"Also you'll need to come to me every other day at least so I can teach you how to train your Pokémon, remember you need all the information you can get before you start travelling to other regions. I'll have Tessai bring some books over to help teach you about Pokémon and which are native to which regions. Also some strategy guides and beginners books should help you as well." Kisuke continued with ways on how he could help Ichigo become a better trainer, he seemed to get carried away though and his eye were somewhat glazed over.

"I thinking we spend our first month training lightly, maybe battle some of the older beach Pokémon until Manaphy is old enough to be trained normally, I'll train alongside you guys as well, I'll make myself not only strong but I'll also study so I know how to train you better and after the month we should spend a week or so of heavy duty training, learning new moves and increasing our strength. Then we will be ready for anything we come across on the other islands and we may be able to catch new Pokémon to add to our family! What do you guys think?" Ichigo asked making sure they all had their say, and to see if they'd agree with him.

"(Sounds good! I'll also battle against some of the other Gyarados in the area to help train as well!)" Gyarados agreed with determination to show his trainer how powerful he is. "(I'll train with these beach Pokémon for now, I'm not sure I could fight over water.)" Beldum replied agreeing with his new trainer.

"(I can still train, I'll train my water powers, that way I won't be straining myself too hard and I can still grow more powerful!)" Manaphy claimed not wanting to look weak even if she was new born. Ichigo smiled at them all.

"Gyarados, that's a great idea. Beldum I can't wait to see what you capable of and I'll be happy to help in anyway. Manaphy as long as you don't exert yourself I see no reason why not, just be careful okay, all of you need to remember it's my job to take care of you know so I'll help in any way I can alongside my own training, you can't have a weak trainer after all not if we're going to be the best!" Ichigo shouted in encouragement his shouted their agreement as well, making his smile widen.

Stood at the doorway of Kisuke's lab, Isshin and Masaki looked at their child with large, proud smiles just seeing how he could inspire his new Pokémon they were sure that he'd grow up to be a great trainer.

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Once they returned to the island later that day Ichigo stayed on the beach so that Gyarados could still be with him when he read the book given to him about the tale of Manaphys, the sat with his back against a boulder, Manaphy on his lap Gyarados coiled around them acting like a wall to keep others away and Beldum floating next to him.

"The Professor said we should read this and it'll help us understand more about Manaphy." Ichigo said looking at the worn book, it had a leathery cover and imprinted pictures which looked like Manaphy and another Pokémon looking very much like Manaphy. He opened the first page and began reading aloud to his Pokémon.

"The legendary Pokémon Manaphy and their offspring Phione, these Pokémon reside in the temple built for them by the people of the sea. The temple was built in honour of the water Pokémon, treasures where handed to the water Pokémon but none grader then the sea crown that lies at the heart of the temple." Ichigo read aloud, almost instantly he had all of their attentions.

The book continued telling them lot's of facts about the Manaphy like if they breed in water that were too warm the egg would hatch into a Phione instead of a Manaphy, it also spoke about Manaphy's heart swap ability that switches the souls of its targets. It spoke about the temple getting lost at sea, only ever to be seen once a year unless you could find it with the help of a Manaphy or Phione who can always feel the location of the temple in their instincts.

"Is that true, can you feel the location of the temple?" Ichigo asked down to her, she seemed to think it over before nodded unsurely. "(I can feel something, it's like a vibration from far away, that might be it but it's easy to ignore.)" She replied making Ichigo smile.

"That must be why the professor also gave me an underwater respirator, in case we want to go visit this temple." Ichigo said smiling, he was quick to continue reading all about the tale of the Manaphy and the sea temple but the book finished soon after leaving a lot of mystery to the story.

On the last page of the book was what seemed to be a crystal shell like jewel tied into the book with a piece of string. "This is the mark of the people of the sea, all of them hold this mark in some form be it jewels or jewellery, it allows access to places in the sea temple that people without the jewel would not be unable to go." Ichigo read out.

"What do you guys think then? That could be our first adventure when we're strong enough! We could go to Manaphy's home!" Ichigo said excitedly, he left the jewel in there for now wanting to keep it safe but he had every intention of taking it with him when he left for the adventure.

"(I'd like that, to see the temple!)" Manaphy chirped happily, Gyarados also looked happy knowing they have an adventure that they have to train for. "(The temple feels really far away though, it could take months to get there...)" Manaphy said.

"(We'll make sure we train hard enough to get their then, you can all ride on me, swimming is as easy as breathing for a Gyarados and we'll stick close to the shore so that every night we can rest. But first we should finish our adventure with these islands but before we can start that we need to grow stronger!)" Gyarados roar in determination, knowing that they'd be able to do it.

"Well then, we'll start our training for the island tomorrow, and then when we think we're ready we'll head to one of the many islands surrounding us and if we're lucky we might be able to get some new friends to join our family." Ichigo agreed, even Beldum looked excited, but it was hard to tell thank to the lack of facial features, but there was something akin to excitement in his eye.

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Over the course of the next several weeks the people of Karakura town watch in awe as Ichigo would go to the beach daily allowing his Beldum to train against Krabbys and Kinglers and watched in total fear as his Gyarados would fight other Gyarados' just off the coast while not holding back firing hyper beams at each other nor seeming to notice how the battles made the waves grow to sizes where it was unsafe for normal people to be on the beach during the battles.

The small Manaphy would spend it's time training her water abilities like water gun and bubble beam with the help of Wingulls who gave her tips on how to be more accurate and make the attacks more powerful, it was slow progress but Manaphy was becoming more powerful after each day.

Ichigo would spend his time on the beach either reading the books given to him by Kisuke to help him understand better ways of training Pokémon and the different types with all their advantages. Or he'd spend his time on the beach with his father who helped train him to become stronger, starting with jogs around the island and simple exercises.

Ichigo was aching all over, even his brain hurt from the studying, every time he stopped exercising he read and studied. He'd shared many battles with his friends; mostly Beldum against the beach creatures that we're happy to help them grow strong but he'd also tried in a battle with Gyarados against another Gyarados and surprisingly won the match.

Manaphy had grown considerably now and was close to being mature enough for them to start their journey to the other islands. She had more than doubled her strength it seemed, her endurance for attacks and even learning new moves like rain dance, she was working on trying to learn an ice move called ice shard but it seemed that she still had some training to do before she could use it.

Days passed quickly for the team, Kisuke had been supporting them heavily lecturing Ichigo about how to better himself, helping train the Pokémon. Slowly though Ichigo gained confidence in training them and after finishing yet another book he started helping his Pokémon more on their training by reading out extracts from books so they could learn moves or just helping them get stronger in a specific area.

But something that the team didn't notice about their training was that it brought them closer together as all of them pushed themselves to their limits to grow stronger. The Pokémon were happy to see Ichigo also training himself alongside them, not many trainers would work to not only help their Pokémon grow but also grow themselves.

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With only about a week left before Manaphy would be old enough to begin battling seriously and until they left to go on their adventure, they visited the professor again hoping for tips about the islands, he was studying them after all, it'd make sense that he would know a lot about the other islands.

With that in mind they hopped on Gyarados and left to meet the Professor, Gyarados still hadn't gotten used to Tessai yet, so every time they went to see Kisuke Gyarados would hide away in the pokeball.

Walking into the lab like he'd done so many times over the last few weeks, but this time something was different, Kisuke was not lounging in the lab today, in fact it took them awhile find him. He turned out to be in one of the back rooms in a video call with what looked like another professor.

"Yes, I know that Oak, I'll send over some files regarding the matter." Kisuke said before noticing Ichigo standing at the door of the room, he smirked. "Ah Ichigo! Come over and say hi, this is professor Oak, he's the main Pokémon professor for Kanto, that's the first region you wanted to visit right?" Kisuke asked grinning and waving his fan. Ichigo walked over with Manaphy still in his arms, they both looked at the professor curiously.

"So you want to become a Pokémon trainer do you?" Oak asked, making Ichigo grin proudly, it was then that Oak finally noticed the small Pokémon in his arms but before he could say anything Ichigo spoke first.

"I don't want to become a trainer, I am a trainer. When I'm ten I'm coming to Kanto!" Ichigo exclaimed Manaphy also voicing her agreement. Oak looked more marvelled then shocked, he continued to stare at Ichigo and his partner, Kisuke just guessed it was because he held passion over a legendary.

"Yup, he became I trainer a few weeks ago, he's training his Pokémon incredibly well, on his first day he managed to capture a Gyarados who doesn't hesitate to obey his orders and all of his Pokémon seem to care dearly for him." Kisuke bragged for his first ever trainer.

"You do know that you're meant to wait until their ten before allowing them to take care of Pokémon." Oak asked carefully, trying to regain his normal attitude. Kisuke smirked. "Yes and I would have done but he went and tamed the Gyarados and also befriend this Manaphy with no Pokémon not to mention how all the Pokémon on his island like him, why should he wait when he was already going to be training his Pokémon that he'd befriended so allowing him ownership of them wasn't such a big step." Kisuke rebuked calmly.

"All kids have their life to befriend Pokémon, whether they're trainers or not, Ichigo was one of the kids who did that and found Pokémon who were loyal to him, I see no reason to stop him being their trainer." Kisuke continued causing Oak to sigh heavily.

"Fine, fine, I suppose its okay as long as there was reason and you weren't just making anybody a trainer for no reason. Well, Ichigo, it's nice to meet you, I look forward to meeting you when you arrive in Kanto." Oak said before hanging up making the screen go black, just before the screen went black though Kisuke noticed the wide smile on Oaks face.

"Sorry Ichigo, I just couldn't help but brag about having a prodigy as one of my trainers, in fact my only trainer that I've ever allowed to represent me." Kisuke said with a smile, Ichigo smiled back at the compliment before sitting down across from Kisuke.

"No problem, I came here to ask a few questions about these islands before I went for today's training, I mean, it's not long until we're ready to start our journey now and all of us have grown stronger."

"Okay Ichigo ask away, I know just about all there is to know about these islands." Kisuke said leaning back in his chair to get comfortable. Ichigo nodded. "Well I suppose I just want to know more about the Pokémon here, you say that most migrated here but how can land Pokémon migrate overseas?" Ichigo asked.

"Well Ichigo, for me to answer that I'll have to tell you the history of the Karakura islands, and it started many years ago." Kisuke started with a smirk on his face. "In fact it started with the Pokémon Groudon."

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**I've thought quite a bit ahead for this story, and by the time Ichigo reaches Kanto, he'll have a powerful team behind him, most of his Pokémon will be caught throughout the next few chapters. But there will be other Pokémon Ichigo captures when he reaches Kanto, he'll also travel with Ash and co. On and off as well but this story will not be about Ash, though Ash will have a few changes by the time they reach indigo Plateau.**

**But that long in the future, Ichigo won't reach Kanto for many chapters yet, and I'll leave it up to you guy's whether or not Ichigo has any romantic relations with other characters, I was thinking of having him and Misty pair together but I'll see what everyone else thinks first.**

**Leave a review tell me how it was. Hop you enjoyed! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Before I start this, just want to say my thanks for all the support I've gotten for this story. Especially to Gemava and Maverick14th, they have both helped me plan a lot for future chapters and have helped me greatly. **

**Sorry for the delay in this chapter, I was away from home for nearly two weeks at one point meaning I couldn't get any writing done. **

**I'm happy to reply to any questions any one has, so if you do just leave a comment or PM and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.**

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"Well Ichigo, for me to answer that I'll have to tell you the history of the Karakura islands, and it started many years ago." Kisuke started with a smirk on his face. "It started with the Pokémon Groudon."

"Groudon as you know if you've read those books I've given you is a legendary Pokémon that is said to have the power to raise land and evaporate the sea, well that's just what he did with these islands." Kisuke started as he covered his face with his fan.

"You see it left the main land after people continued to try capture it to use him in wars or so they could create their own empires. And this continued for many years, Groudon fighting to keep its freedom but eventually it got tired of the fighting leaving it the only option to flee. It's said that Groudon walked out into the sea, the water evaporating around it allowing it to continue going out into the sea." By now Manaphy was taken in by the story listening intently like a child, Ichigo wasn't much better.

"But Groudon didn't go alone, many other Pokémon wished to flee the countless wars and went with it, many Pokémon like Graveler whom couldn't cross the ocean on their own went with it, large amounts of Pokémon, enough to fill an island with, so Groudon did just that." Ichigo briefly noted that he said island and not islands.

"Groudon formed a massive island and the Pokémon made it their new home, flying Pokémon brought seeds from the mainland and eventually the island was flourishing with life. But as you may have guessed that didn't last long, the Pokémon began fighting amongst themselves for more land for their children. Groudon first made the island bigger to stop the fighting but that didn't last long since again some Pokémon got greedy wanting more land for themselves, by now Groudon knew that simply making the island bigger wouldn't work." By now Ichigo had guessed that this island was the Karakura islands or at least one of them.

"Groudon instead went to the middle of the island and started creating massive earthquakes which slowly made cracks along the earth of the island, in the writings I've read it was said that this went on for weeks Groudon slowly separated the island into many smaller islands and all the Pokémon that had come with Groudon where now separated from it, you see they all ran from him leaving Groudon on a island of its own while the rest of the Pokémon where stuck on the other islands."

"Over the many years the Pokémon finally grew used to this change and made their islands their new homes and the Groudon that gave them these homes was now alone, never heard from again even to this day there is no written evidence on its whereabouts, it was lost over time to most people." Kisuke said smirking, Ichigo's eye narrowed when he picked up on the last part.

"To most people?" Ichigo asked making Kisuke's smirk widen. "Yes, not many people bothered to look into the other islands so no one ever found anything." Kisuke replied turning his head slightly so that he was looking at Ichigo through the corner of his eyes.

"But you have, you researched all the islands, and you said it yourself you know just about everything about these islands." Ichigo pushed wanting more answers then he was getting. Kisuke nodded his smile showing how amused he was.

"Just about, yes." He agreed feigning innocence, making Ichigo's eye twitch in annoyance. Even Manaphy puffed out her cheeks with a huff to show her annoyance. "So then you know where Groudon is?" Ichigo asked playing along with his stupid game.

"Hmm, well I had a map of which island would have been in the middle of that massive island all those years ago, after all islands drift over hundreds of years so they're not in the same formation they were once in." Kisuke explain with a hand on his chin. "But I can't remember which island it was, nor can I remember ever going to the island, I suppose if you want more answers you'd have to try find this island on your own." Kisuke said finally with a fake sigh of disappointment.

Ichigo finally understood what he was doing; Kisuke wanted him to find out what happened to the Groudon, he wanted Ichigo to search the islands in order to find out what happened to it. Ichigo had no doubt that the Professor already knew all the answers, but he wanted Ichigo to find out for himself.

"I see how it is, okay then I'll look for clues to what happened with this Groudon then when I travel the islands." Ichigo said calmly standing up Manaphy looked up with a smile; it seemed that they had a lot of adventure to go on before they went to Kanto.

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Going all out on training now that Manaphy was old enough they decided that it's be best for Gyarados to work on his endurance to best get them ready for the long distance surfing they'll have to do to get to the sea temple, so for his training he's been racing other sea Pokémon around the island putting the most speed he can so that he tires faster and gets a better work out.

Manaphy on the other hand had her first time battling seriously against the beach Pokémon but thanks to all the training she done prior she handled it very well managing to win battles against Krabbys and even a Kingler, even if they were reluctant to fight her and went easy on her. She also started to finally be able to use ice shard effectively and was learning more powerful water type moves.

Beldum was working on his main weakness and also his strength, His weakness being his speed so he was working on dodging bubble beams from a row of Krabbys and Wingulls that flew past, while also boosting his defence and endurance to attacks when he got hit. Ichigo was still keeping up with his own routine and he could feel it paying off, not only physically but also his confidence in his Pokémon and his ability to battle with them and against them.

And when the day finally came for him to set out he felt ready for all the things to come he felt that he could find out what happened to the Groudon and he felt that he could expand his team and make new friends.

"We'll miss you Ichigo, even if you won't be too far away or if you won't be gone long we'll miss you. Be careful out there rumours have it there are some dangerous Pokémon on some of the islands." Masaki said as she hugged her son, right now all Ichigo's family were on the beach getting ready to wave goodbye to Ichigo.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, I've got three powerful Pokémon with me." Ichigo reassured also getting a roar of agreement from Gyarados who was waiting to take them to their first island, they checked a map and counted that there were thirty to forty islands in total, though some were so small that they could check multiple in a day while others were big enough that it may take a whole week to search it all. They decide that they'd start from one bigger island and work around the rest using Karakura town as a middle to work around.

Surprisingly a lot of people from the town had heard what he was doing and came to the beach to show support for the young aspiring trainer. Some of his human friends had turned up and given him a pat on the back; the local shopkeeper had even given him some extra supplies. The local nurse joy had given him a contact number so that if his Pokémon ever get hurt she can come to him on her Lapras.

"Ha when you come back you better be enough of a man to have hairs on your chin!" Isshin exclaimed in his usual annoying manner, luckily Gyarados got protective and roared at the man causing him to jump back while Ichigo laughed at his expense and gave Gyarados his thanks.

"Hope you have fun Ichi." Yuzu said with Karin also smiling while waving him off. Finally Ichigo had said all his goodbyes and waved to them all as he sat on Gyarados' back with Beldum in his lap and Manaphy on Gyarados' head also waving at them.

Gyarados didn't hesitate to show off his new found speed dashing away from the beach roaring in untamed excitement. The first island they were going to was rumoured they have lots of Pokémon on it making it good for some training and also made a good chance for capturing a new Pokémon. It was also one of the closer islands but was still far enough to leave Karakura town only just visible on the horizon.

They set off just after sunrise so they had the whole day to explore this island; it was seemed mostly forested also having a lot of rock formations around the shores making it harder to get to luckily Gyarados just smashed his way through most of the jagged rocks taking little damage whereas other he'd go around.

The first thing he saw while landing on the beach was a group of Dwebble already running away from him, they reminded him a lot of the Krabby that he was used to seeing. The next thing was a group of rocks that seemed total out of place in the middle of the beach, thinking back to the books he'd been reading he guessed they were Geodudes since they were obvious markings around them from movement, he scanned both Pokémon with his wrist pokedex to catalogue them.

Not seeing too much of interest he returned Gyarados to his Pokéball and walked to the forested area. He didn't really want to capture the Pokémon that just ran away, it shows that they don't want a trainer, or at least don't want to fight.

As he walked through the wooded area with Manaphy in his arms and Beldum floating slightly in front to see if his psychic abilities could pick up on anything interesting. Ichigo kept noticing holes in the ground around him, it looked like Pokémon have been digging underground all around this area.

"Beldum, try using psychic to pull something out of these holes, there's a lot of them so it must be a lot of Pokémon digging." Ichigo said to his friend, Beldum complied floating over to the closest hole and used psychic to try pulling something from underground causing his eye to glow blue.

It took a few minutes but a Pokémon was extracted from one of the holes, it flailed around wildly trying to break the psychic. The Pokémon was small and seemed pretty weak, it looked like a metal ant and Ichigo not having read about this Pokémon scanned it with his pokedex, allowing him to get its name and a few more details on it.

"A Durant, they live underground to hide away from predators like Heatmor and also to allow them to stockpile food away from other Pokémon, its steel shell allows it protection from most attacks." Ichigo read before turning back to the Durant.

"Hey Durant, would you mind answering me a few questions about this island, I promise not to hurt you and I'll let you go straight after." Ichigo asked kneeling down to the Pokémon as Beldum dropped his psychic allow to Pokémon to move freely. It looked at them warily but nodded nonetheless.

"Right, first can you tell me what Pokémon we'll find on this island?" Ichigo asked softly hoping that he hadn't scared to Pokémon too much. "(This island is ruled by steel types mostly, there are also some rock types and ground types too but they don't stand a chance against the Aggron that rules over the steel types.)" The Pokémon explained timidly, wondering why a trainer was asking him questions directly, but to his surprise the human understood him.

"I see, Aggron are meant to be really powerful from what I've read, okay thank you for the information Durant. Is this Aggron a kind Pokémon or will he attack us, I'd rather try avoiding annoying a whole island if we end up having to fight their leader." Ichigo asked now sitting in front of the Durant.

"(He's angered easily, he's even fought against some of the Metang that live here to make sure they don't evolve because if they evolve into a Metagross then they stand a chance at standing against him. If you stay on this island too long you'll no doubt have a confrontation with the Aggron, Those of us who can borrow underground to reach the underground caverns where we hide and live.)" The Durant explained now feeling more comfortable with the trainer as he too relaxed.

"Why don't the other steel types follow you, there must be other ways into the cavern?" Ichigo wondered, thinking about if this tyrant that ruled with power had a weakness. "(If they followed us underground then they'd be in our territory and we could collapse the caves on them then just dig more.)" The Durant explained sounding proud of the fact that it wasn't completely defenceless.

"That's clever, making sure you have to home team advantage, what Pokémon reside in the cavern Durant?" Ichigo asked happy with the fact the Pokémon at least had some peace. "(Lot's, Pokémon like Onix, Steelix, lots more Durants like me and also Drilburs and Excadrills who help us Durants with tunnelling.)"

"Can I see your home, I promise I won't try attacking your friends unless they attack me first or if they want to battle with me. Maybe I can help with this Aggron problem." Ichigo asked wanting to maybe help these Pokémon if it was within his power to do so. The problem was how he'd fight an Aggron, Beldum was too weak to go against something so powerful Gyarados would need to be near water to be used to his fullest but he may have a chance at winning... or he could use Manaphy...

If he had to he was sure the combined efforts of all his Pokémon could take down this Aggron. But that may just make the Pokémon hostile towards him, so the best thing he could do was avoid conflict for now a try to resolve it some other way.

"(I'll trust you, simply because your Pokémon seem to like you.)" The Durant said as he turn and began walking deeper into the forest. "(I'll take you to an entrance that you can use to get down into the cavern, once there I'll go ahead and tell them not to collapse the tunnel on you.)" With that said they followed the Durant through the forest until they reached a large rock formation that protruded out of the ground and also had a larger entrance way on the front, large enough for Gravelers he noted.

"(This is where a few Onix made a way for other larger Pokémon to retreat underground, this would be the best way down for you, wait here I'll come back when it's safe for you to come down.)" The Durant said scurrying into the cave without another word.

Ichigo guessed it must go on for a while since after half an hour the Durant still hadn't returned, though he stayed patient trusting the words of the small Pokémon. "(Ichigo, someone is closing in on us.)" Beldum said floating in front of Ichigo protectively.

"Friendly?" Ichigo asked hopefully. That idea was shot down when a small Pokémon which had blades for hand, blades forming a ribcage on its front and a big blade protruding from its head... a lot of blades. Scanning it with his pokedex to get a name he was happy to see a new Pokémon he hadn't heard of before.

"A Pawniard, do you think you can take it Beldum?" Ichigo asked hopefully, wanting to capture this Pokémon. Beldum nodded his eye to Ichigo making Ichigo smirk before stepping forward. "Alright let's do it."

"(You think you can beat me! Well then let's see if you're worth my time! I'm here to stop more Pokémon retreating underground and running away from Aggron!)" It declared, Ichigo frowned knowing that it was just being used as a means to help this tyrant.

"Beldum, try avoiding those blades and get around him to use takedown into his back." Ichigo commanded and loyally Beldum obeyed his friend and master. Using the speed he'd been trying to improve on in his training he floated around the Pokémon waiting for an opening and was happy when the Pawniard almost tripped on a small twig leaving his defence down. Launching himself at the Pawniard he was happy to see it fall over completely and wince at his attack.

He was about to use take down again but was mildly surprised when the Pawniard quickly rolled himself over while swinging one of his blade hands out firing a small blast of dark energy at Beldum hitting him in the middle of a takedown, making him take not only the super effective attack but also recoil from his own.

"A night slash! Beldum are you okay?" Ichigo asked worriedly while reaching for Gyarados' pokeball. "(I'm fine he's not yet perfected that move so it wasn't as powerful as it should be, continue I won't lose!)" Beldum replied seeing his trainer worried for his safety reinforced the feeling that he wanted to prove himself, he want to show Ichigo that he made the right choice to pick him, he wanted to prove to his master that he was strong!

"If you're sure Beldum, let's try using your psychic to pick up some rocks for him to try and dodge, while he's doing that wait for an opening and hit him with a take down!" Ichigo commanded, just because the dark type wasn't effected by psychic, doesn't mean it wouldn't be effected by things that were controlled by psychic instead.

Pawniard struggled to keep his eyes on all the incoming projectiles and also keep track of the continually moving Beldum, just as he slashed at another incoming rock he saw Beldum shooting towards him out the corner of his eye, but he wasn't quick enough to stop the takedown hitting him in his back, it was a lot more powerful then the last one leading him to believe that he'd annoyed the Beldum. When the take down hit the psychic hold on the rocks broke since Beldum took recoil damage breaking his concentration, Pawniard swung himself round to slash at his opponent. The Beldum being too close to the Pawniard got hit with three rapid fire slash attacks and was knocked away with a faint attack sending to Beldum falling to the ground a few meters away.

"Beldum, I'm switching you out, I don't want you getting hurt anymore then you already have!" Ichigo called raising Beldum's pokeball with the intention of brining his injured Pokémon back. "(No! I will win! Please let me fight Ichigo!)" To Beldum called lifting its self of the ground. Ichigo was at a wall, should he let him fight... he was determined to and Ichigo didn't want to deprive him of a battle that he wants.

"If you really want to Beldum, just please be careful okay. Okay since you only have Take down and that's only doing half damage we have to try hitting him twice as hard! We need to hit him from two angles so once you hit him with a takedown follow through and keeping pushing him until you smash him into a tree, got it?" Ichigo called back, if Beldum wanted to fight then he wouldn't fail his Pokémon.

Beldum with revived determination shot forward quicker than the Pawniard could counter hitting the Pawniard directly in the chest, ignoring the blades scraping down his side in push himself as fast and as hard as he could slamming the Pawniard into a tree causing the Pokémon to have to breath knocked out of it leaving it unable to attack for a second.

"Don't let it recover, he may have the type advantage but we have the will to win! Another take down, full power Beldum, finish it here!" Ichigo shouted, he could practically feel his Pokémon's will to win skyrocket as he pulled back before slamming himself into the Pawniard with as much power as he could.

Beldum was hurting badly, but ignored it as he looked down at the Pawniard who was now too weak to fight back and they both knew it. "(Alright you beat me, you happy, you're stronger, now leave me alone.)" The Pawniard spat, falling to a knee and gasping for air.

"(You are very strong yourself, if it wasn't for my trainer taking the time to help train before we came here I would surely have lost, instead of seeing this as a loss why not think of it as a chance to become stronger, join us, Ichigo treats his Pokémon like family and trains us to become stronger, you too can become stronger with him-" Beldum was cut off from his speech when he suddenly felt something inside of him... it felt weird for a second then he noticed that he was glowing.

Ichigo looked on in shock and quickly called out Gyarados so that he could watch this amazing sight as well. Beldum, he was evolving. Manaphy looked excited as he glowed and grew before finally taking his new form now floating with two arms and a lager body. "(Congratulations, you evolved!)" Manaphy shouted as Ichigo ran over to him.

Now floating in front of them was a Metang, Ichigo scanned before excitedly hugging his starter with Manaphy who jump from Ichigo's arms onto Metang's head, Gyarados Roared in appreciation of his friend's accomplishment.

"Well done Bel... Metang, this is great. I'm proud of you Metang; the resolve you showed was amazing, I'm sorry I doubted you I just didn't want to see you hurt." Ichigo apologised truly proud for his Pokémon. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about the Pawniard watching with interest.

"(Good job, I'm glad I was beat by a strong Pokémon and not a weak one, so are you going to capture me now or what human?)" Pawniard asked gaining all their attention and he struggled to stand up, Ichigo was quick to help him stand before looking at him seriously.

"If you don't want to be captured then I'm happy to let you go after you've healed, or you could come with us and grow stronger with us as well, what do you say?" Ichigo asked holding out his pokeball. Pawniard looked at eh other three Pokémon, mainly Metang and nodded.

"(I want to become strong, I want to evolve I want to be the best that I can be.)" Pawniard admitted steeling his resolve and looked at Ichigo. "(Capture me and then train me to be strong and powerful.)" Ichigo nodded and tossed the empty pokeball at him capturing him without much hassle. Ichigo returned Gyarados as well now that the spectacle was over.

"(He will make a good addition to the family Ichigo.)" Metang said appreciating the Pawniards potential. "(I agree I think he'll be able to grow strong Papa.)" Manaphy said still sitting on top of Metang not that he minded. Ichigo smiled.

"Yeah I believe he'll be a good friend, once we're in the cavern I'll let him out so we can heal him up and explain the unique pokeballs and my abilities to him, that's if he hasn't already guessed." Ichigo said smiling widely, not only did he get a new friend but also watched as his other friend evolved.

"(That was an impressive fight, not only winning while being in a disadvantage but also evolving, this trainer must be a good one.)" A voice said from behind them, they turned and saw that Durant had finally returned, with a few more Pokémon most notably the Steelix speaking to them. "(You seem larger than the other Metangs I've seen and you're still young, truly you must have a lot of potential.)" The Steelix said Ichigo was about to thank him for the complements to his Pokémon but he spoke first.

"(I've been told about you, Trainer, and we decided that you may enter, you should thank this Durant he trusts you and managed to persuade the other Pokémon to allow you entry, we've been told about your abilities so come and follow us.)" The Steelix said turning and retreating back into the cave. Durant close behind, Ichigo jogged to catch up with Metang floating behind Manaphy sitting comfortably on his head.

"Thank you for speaking on my behalf Durant, I really appreciate it, and as for this Aggron I have a few ideas on how to deal with him I'll explain when we're in the cavern." Ichigo told him making the small metal ant nod.

They walked along the dark cave the only light source Ichigo had was Manaphy using the balls on the end of her antenna to glow and light up the surrounding area dimly. Metang was holding up nicely the evolution healing most of his injuries.

It took around ten minutes until the cave tunnel finally opened out into a lager open area, the room was massive and tunnels were spread along the walls like an ant colony which would make sense since this place was populated by many Onix and a handful of Steelix, Drilburs and Excadrills stood on platforms on the walls with Durant by their feet, they seemed to be in the process of digging out new tunnels. Geodudes picked up the rock and debris of the tunnelling and piled them in large piles of rocks which formed pillars to support the ceiling.

The sight was truly amazing, lots of different Pokémon working together to create something amazing. Ichigo raised his arm scanning the different Pokémon to catalogue the amount of different Pokémon he'd seen. Then he switched the machine to camera mode and snapped a few pictures to show his family when he returned.

"(Now then trainer, you are our guest so feel free to walk around and talk to the other Pokémon, not many have ever seen humans before since most are restricted to this island. I ask that you do not attack any Pokémon in order to capture them, if you would like one of them to join you simply ask them.)" The Steelix said before turning to one of the tunnels.

"(Down that tunnel is a small underground lake that you can use for you Gyarados if he gets dehydrated.)" Just before the Steelix was about to leave Ichigo asked a question that he was travelling to find out.

"Do you know anything about a Groudon, the one that formed these islands, I'm looking for clues as to find out what happened to him or if he's still alive." The Steelix turned to him with a fierce glare. "(You intend to capture him?)" It asked Ichigo stepped back slightly as both Metang and Manaphy moved in front of him to protect him.

"I don't, I wish to know what happened, I live on one of the islands and was recently told how they formed, my journey is to find out what happened and look for clues." Ichigo said regaining himself and walking to the side of his Pokémon so that he wasn't hiding.

"(There was another human who was looking for the same thing not too long ago, you'd do best to ask him what he found.)" The Steelix said causing Ichigo to suddenly smile. "He was blond and wore a green hat right? If so he's the same person who sent me on this journey, he won't tell me what he found because he wants me to find out for myself." Ichigo said knowing that Kisuke was one of the only other people to travel the islands and was also the only one to know about the legend of Groudon. Steelix seem to think about what he'd said.

"(Fine then, I shall give you the information that the legends tell. The first mistake is that this Groudon was not a 'He' but was in fact a female. After the island that she had form was separated into many smaller islands the story says that she went silent for months and the water Pokémon that travelled to find out if she was okay were attacked by a Regirock so they could not get onto the island. After months of silence there were suddenly roars of pain coming from the island, the roars didn't last long and once it ended there was no more sound coming from the island, many went to check if she'd died but again were attacked by Regirock.)" The Steelix told them, Ichigo looked like he was about to ask a question but was cut off.

"(That is all we know, the legend stops after that, it's been passed down for generations on this island so the story may not even be accurate and the islands have long since changed meaning we can no longer find which island Groudon was on.)" The Steelix said before Ichigo could ask.

"Thank you Steelix, I appreciate the information. And I also had an idea about this Aggron problem." Ichigo said gaining Steelix's attention as well as Durants and some of the other Pokémon. "First if we could beat this Aggron in a Pokémon battle what would happen?" Ichigo asked already know what could happen but he needed to be sure.

"(The most likely thing is that the Lairons and Arons and any other Pokémon that respect him would attack you, but then he would heal and attack again, a direct attack would not do much, we'd need to be able to overpower him every time he shows himself or he'd just regain control.)" Steelix said already having thought of that.

"So I take it you're in the process of training along with other Pokémon in hopes of one being strong enough to continually beat Aggron right?" Ichigo asked knowing that'd be the obvious answer. Steelix nodded. "Add they're all ground, rock or steel types, all pretty slow?" Ichigo asked again and begrudgingly the Steelix nodded.

"Okay I have a plan and a backup plan." Ichigo said before turning to Manaphy. "Manaphy I think you should fight him." Ichigo said causing her eyes to widen in panic sputtering out how she wasn't strong enough for something like that. Ichigo raised his hand for silence, a smirk on his face.

"He won't be able to hit you; Aggrons are super slow unless trained by an experienced trainer they're so heavy that it's hard for them to move around quick enough. All the Pokémon that have been fighting him have also been slow and also slightly weaker than him. Water attacks are super effect on Aggron making the choice you or Gyarados, but on land Gyarados is also slow meaning that Aggron could get the advantage." Ichigo started as all the Pokémon were listening intently.

"(But Papa, I'm slow on land as well, my legs aren't long enough for me to move around fast on land!)" Manaphy exclaimed. "But we can change the playing field you're able to learn ice moves more particularly ice beam, we'd need to soak the whole area, which you can do with Rain dance before the fight, then with ice beam we'll freeze the whole area." Ichigo explained getting understanding from the others.

"Once the areas frozen, simply skate across the ice and dodge all his attacks while using you water attacks that have boosted power thanks to the rain and are also super effective against him. But if at anytime I think that you're in danger you can use heart swap with one of the Pokémon on the sidelines." Ichigo explained having been thinking about this since he first heard about Aggron. All the Pokémon looked at him with shock, to think such a young trainer could come up with that so quickly.

"(If you think I can Papa then I'll try my best, I need to start learning Ice beam then.)" She said feeling a refreshed wave of confidence wash over her. Metang had to admit he was impressed with his master's strategy, but it still left one problem. "(What about after he's beaten?)" Metang asked.

"When he's beaten by Manaphy his pride would be sorely bruised not to mention other Pokémon would view him as weak so he'd lose a lot of respect among Pokémon. We'd need the oldest of each species of Pokémon to come forward and take charge after that and create a democracy. That way all the Pokémon would be back in order and everyone could live without fear of Aggron." Ichigo finished, he didn't like the idea of hurting a Pokémon's pride but it had to be done for all the other Pokémon who're suffering.

"(We'll try it I'll send some Pokémon to gather and in from the elders of each species, until then, the cave with the underground lake shall be yours to train in, I'll have some other Metangs come to show yours some moves and train with him.)" Steelix said impressed by the young child. Ichigo nodded and headed to his 'room' to train.

"Come on out guys!" Ichigo said releasing his other friends, Gyarados appeared in the water happily joined by Manaphy who dived in after him relishing in the water. Pawniard appeared in front of him still injured, and Metang hovered next to him still hurting after the tough battle.

"Come over here guys I'll heal you up." Ichigo said digging through his bag to grab a few potions given to him by Kisuke and the towns shop keeper. He healed Pawniard first since he was in worse condition spaying the injuries on the small Pokémon making him wince slightly but it paid off quickly and he let out a sigh relief. Then did the same for his starter, he told them both to rest for now and that they both did a great job, not before explaining everything about the pokeball and his abilities to his new friend first though.

Ichigo sat done next to his two resting friends watching both his water Pokémon play in the water, he snapped a picture of his friends on his pokedex. He wanted as many pictures as possible from his adventures so he'll never forget them, and that also reminded him about a side project of his. Reaching into bag he pulled out a leather notebook about A4 size.

On the first page was a picture of Manaphy, and underneath the picture he wrote about how he met her and the moves she'd learnt and lots of other information about her. The next page was Beldum and information about him, the page after was blank until Ichigo wrote the name 'Metang' at the top and left room for a picture before writing about his evolution and the events that were taking place. And another blank page in case he evolved into Metagross. Then it was Gyarados and then another blank which he started filling in for Pawniard.

It was an idea from his mother to make a diary of sorts dedicating it to his Pokémon, so that's what he did and planned to do, for every Pokémon he caught he'd write a page for them and about them. When he put it back in his bag he pulled out his next note book which was his diary, he started it the day he became a trainer and had been filling it with things about his training with his Pokémon and now his journey he sat there in his own world as he wrote done the day's events so far, he didn't notice that both his Pokémon had long since recovered and were now waiting for him to finish.

That last thing he did was cross off this island on his map showing that he'd been here so that he didn't accidently back track. When he finally put it all back into his bag he looked up to his Pokémon all of them seeming to be ready to start training. "Okay then, Manaphy I need you to start on ice beam and directly after that continue working on hydro pump with the help of Gyarados until then Gyarados can you work on your flamethrower attack, we haven't made much progress on that and it eliminates a big weakness if we learn it. Metang it'd be best if you train your psychic powers by moving boulders around slowly pick up heavier each time for now since they should be a lot stronger, at least until the other Metangs come to train with you, Pawniard you used a Night slash attack but it wasn't yet ready for battles work on that for a while then switch to training your Psycho cut attack, with those you'd be good against psychic types." Ichigo stated with confidence to them all, each of them instantly getting to training.

Ichigo was happily surprised when he found out that his Pawniard knew Psycho cutter, it was a rare move among Pawniards, and it was also the only psychic attack that Pawniard could learn to Ichigo's knowledge. He could tell every move his Pokémon knew once they'd been scanned into his pokedex and Pawniard had a small arsenal of moves already having six attacks.

Ichigo looked in his bag; he had one book that he needed to finish until he could go ask Kisuke for more books. He decided to save reading that one until later and decided to work on his own strength doing exercises like simply push ups to jumping jacks, his dad had wrote him a whole schedule to do while he was away.

Manaphy's progress was great, he was sure that she'd have ice beam in the bag by tomorrow, it wouldn't be at full power but it'd be more than enough to freeze wet ground. Then tomorrow she'll work on her hydro pump as much as possible, he'd hope that they'd get a whole day of training tomorrow but there was no guarantee.

Gyarados' flamethrower was becoming very powerful and would be good against weaker Pokémon, but it was too wide spread and uncontrolled to be used effectively at this moment in time. Gyarados was the most powerful in his team at this moment of time but he was hoping to get everybody up to his level.

Pawniard's Psycho cutter was no doubt powerful; Ichigo had come to the conclusion that one of Pawniards parents must have been a Kadabra or an Alakazam for him to know that move. Ichigo guessed that Pawniard was about on the same level as Manaphy at the moment.

Metang had around half an hour of training his psychic before the other Metangs came into the pool area and helped him, Ichigo's Metang seemed larger than the other two. The other two sizing up around 3'11" while Metang was more of a 4'4" and seemed to impose the most likely older Metangs, Ichigo smirk thinking how much bigger he'd be when he evolved again and also as he aged. The other Metang began showing him how to learn a few fighting type moves like thunder punch, fire punch, ice punch and mega punch. Ichigo was impressed by that, according to his books Metang can't normally learn some of those moves but these island Metang had found away.

When the training was said and done they'd all made amazing progress Ichigo smiled when he thought about how powerful they'd be when he was ten, which was a little over a year away since he turned nine in a few weeks. He had nothing planned for his birthday; he intended to just continue with his travels.

Right now they were all sat by the water eating some food given to him by Kisuke, they needed to stop by his island every week for a top up on food supplies but the team didn't mind they were in no rush to finish this journey.

"(Ichigo, what do you plan to do once we are able to go to Kanto, is there a specific reason?)" Pawniard asked before taking another bait of pokefood. Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, a few reasons really. First I want to travel and see the world cataloguing all the amazing Pokémon I see and the adventures I have, the second reason is that I want to be a great Pokémon trainer. I'm not arrogant enough to say that I want to be the best because I've seen lots of amazing trainers on TV but maybe one day if we work hard we could. The last reason is to prove that Karakura town has great potential, Kisuke let me become a trainer as long as I promised to put Karakura islands on the map!" Ichigo said happily having confidence.

"With great Pokémon like you guys I have no doubt we'll be able to do those things, together we'll have an amazing adventure together." Ichigo said Pawniard wasn't sure what to say, they were big objectives... but he wanted to become strong enough to complete those goals.

"(Then I shall help with the best of my ability. I'm grateful for you taking me under your wing before you all I had was that damned Aggron, he was always so quick to show he was the strongest by throwing us weaker ones around, thank you for the chance to become strong.)" Pawniard said sincerely. Ichigo smiled at him.

"Don't worry about it, we're family now." Ichigo said matter-of-factly. Pawniard just smiled at his trainer and didn't reply as he continued to eat, the other Pokémon watched feeling a sense of ease being around Ichigo.

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.

The next day it was mostly the same, but this time other Pokémon came to train alongside them as well. Drilburs and Excadrills trained with each other alongside Pawniard, sometimes opting to spar with each other. Metangs and Beldums worked with his Metang to not only help him but to help them, in fact two Beldum evolved into Metangs during the training.

Manaphy was happily working with Gyarados since she'd mastered Ice beam enough to use it in battle and she and Gyarados were now firing Hydro pumps at each other, Manaphy also working on her speed to dodge his attacks and Gyarados working on his pain tolerance and endurance.

Ichigo was with some Geodudes, though he seemed more like a plaything to them as they kept giving him rocks that were shaped like weights, he struggled with most of them, as expected and then the Geodudes would grab boulders and throw them to each other as if playing catch... probably just to show off in front of Ichigo.

They day went smoothly, until Ichigo got a call from the professor. He looked down at the wrist watch like pokedex and sighed before clicking the accept button on the call. And there he was on a video call with the professor who, as always, had not a care in the world.

"Ah Ichigo, how was your first day? And how's your second day? I noticed you caught a Pawniard, and also added a handful of Pokémon to you Pokedex, anything interesting happen?" Kisuke asked. Ichigo looked to his Pokémon who were still training. "Yeah, Beldum evolved during the fight to capture Pawniard and I'm on this island with lots of steel and rock types. There's this Aggron that has pretty much taken control because it's stronger than the rest so I'm gona fight it, I'm training at the moment for it." Ichigo informed.

"Oh is that the island with the Steelix and Onix, I liked that island, I made a friend that was an Onix." Kisuke said in his happy go lucky attitude. "You should be careful fighting an Aggron, they are very powerful, I assume Gyarados is going to fight it?" Kisuke asked and Ichigo smirked.

"Nope, Manaphy." Ichigo said simply, he noticed Kisuke's eyes grow serious. "What's your plan?" The professor asked knowing Ichigo wasn't stupid enough to do something like this without a plan. Ichigo explained his plan quickly wanting to know if Kisuke had any tips to add in.

"That's a good idea, I've got to say I'm proud of you, you are new to this and yet you can think ahead and you know the advantages of not only yours but your opponents Pokémon. I'm happy that you are growing so fast." Kisuke said proud of his first assigned trainer. Ichigo beamed at the praise.

"But this wasn't the only reason I called, I wanted to know if you found any clues yet?" Kisuke asked. Ichigo nodded. "I know the Groudon was a female and I know that the islands it's on is protected by a Regirock, there was roars of pain coming from the island but no one could get to Groudon to see what was wrong, I still don't know if Groudon is alive or not but it would seem it since the Regirock still protected the island after the roars had stopped." Ichigo summarized, Kisuke nodded along in approval.

"You're doing well Ichigo, you're still on the first island and you've already started finding clues, I'll see you next time you come to pick up some food, until then good luck with your journey." Kisuke said before instantly switching off the call making Ichigo's eye twitch in annoyance at his laid back attitude.

"Heh, he didn't show any surprise when I told him what I found out, just helps prove my theory that he already knows." Ichigo muttered to himself before walking over to his Pokémon. They all looked out of breath, but still had determined smirks or smiles on their face.

"We'll be hitting the sack early tonight to make sure we have energy for tomorrow all the elder Pokémon have been informed and we've trained enough to go ahead with the plan, you've all grown greatly and shown great strength in your training, I'm proud of you all. Come on let's get some sleep." Ichigo encouraged knowing that if tomorrow didn't go to plan then he'd have to rely on all their combined strength. His Pokémon joined him as he laid against the cave wall with a blanket over him.

Manaphy jumped in his lap and pulled the blanket over herself, Gyarados curled up in front of them with Metang Laid next to him and Pawniard laid against him. After all the training they were all tired so as soon as they got comfortable they drifted off to sleep.

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Ichigo walked through the forest, Manaphy was in her pokeball for the first time since she was captured so that she could be a surprise for Aggron and so she wouldn't be attacked before she got to him. Metang hovered next to him and Pawniard walking underneath Metang.

Durant was walking ahead showing them the way to where this Aggron should be around this time. The other Pokémon were close by waiting for Durant to go get them when the match starts.

The forest opened up into a open meadow with a few berry trees scattered around. Lairons and Arons were eating berries that had fallen from the trees, and an Aggron was stood underneath one of the bigger trees as smaller Pokémon brought him berries. It didn't take long to realise that this must be the one causing all the trouble.

"Manaphy it's time." Ichigo said and on command she released herself from her pokeball appearing at his feet with a serious face knowing that this would be her hardest battle yet. "Pawniard get in front of her and protect her for a minute as she uses rain dance." Both did as ordered.

Manaphy started her dance by raising her hands into the air, instantly clouds started forming and darkening, then she started singing to call the rain down. The singing also gained the attention of the steel types that were eating in the field. The Lairons and Arons started gathering around them and stomped their rear foot on the ground like a bull, but it was too late, the plan had been set in motion.

"Pawniard Faint attack on the Lairons, Metang psychic and throw them back!" Ichigo grabbed a ball at his belt. "Gyarados Flamethrower!" he called while he threw the ball summoning the giant serpent who instantly unloaded a wide spread flamethrower, and although it was weakened from the rain it was enough to push back to steel types. "Hyper beam!" he ordered without hesitation.

Gyarados unleashed the fierce beam of energy just in front of the front lines of Lairons and Arons. Some were blown back and the heavier filched from the flying rubble that was hitting them hard. Most of the Armour Pokémon had already fallen back to the Aggron while others were pushed back by a combine effort of Metang and Gyarados leaving Pawniard to protect Manaphy until the battle.

"(Who dares challenge us! We're the most powerful Pokémon on this island!)" Roared the Aggron as he trotted forward looking incredibly annoyed, Ichigo smirked as he had everyone's attention. Now all he had to do was hit the Pokémon in the pride.

"Most powerful on this island? The Metangs are stronger then this lot, just two of my Pokémon were needed to push you all back! You try scaring this island into submission but really you're weak!" Ichigo shouted as the rain poured down heavily. It seemed to do the job since now Aggron was standing in front of them growling deeply.

"Mana, you're up." Ichigo said softly so the others couldn't hear, Manaphy nodded he resolve unwavering as she stepped forward frowning at the giant armour Pokémon. "(You dare challenge me? A puny Pokémon like you should know its place! I'll be glad to show you it!)" Aggron shouted as he began to run forward, but as expected he was slow.

"Manaphy Hydro pump!" Ichigo commanded confidently, to all the Pokémon's surprise though it was aimed more at the ground soaking the entire field and only briefly hitting Aggrons legs long enough to stop his charge briefly. "Okay, go for it, ice beam!" and just as instructed she fired her ice beam directly at the Aggrons feet as he was mid step freezing the ground beneath him making him slip and fall on his face it served well not only to slow him as they froze the field but also to help make him look weak in front of the other Pokémon.

"Okay again ice beam, freeze everything!" Ichigo shouted as the Aggron slowly and steadily got up with scuff marks on his armour from the dirt. By the time Aggron got to his feet it was too late, the area surrounding them was frozen and the rain only served to make to ice more slippery.

"Hydro pump!" Ichigo shouted and a powerful Hydro pump hit hard in Aggrons face making him slid back on the ice. Aggron was in a bad place, he was all but stuck in one position and he didn't know many ranged attacks as he normally fought hand to hand. Aggron dug his foot into the ground and kicked up a large chunk of earth before whacking it towards the Manaphy with his tail.

"Slid to dodge!" Manaphy didn't hesitate and slid away faster than the chuck of earth could fly. "Don't stop moving and fire another Hydro pump!" Ichigo shouted. And this continued, slowly the incredible defence of the Aggron was withered down until he was panting heavily, every time he threw a rock he'd either fall over or miss and then be hit with another hydro pump.

Manaphy felt great knowing this win was in the bag, her Hydration ability kept her stamina up stopping her from getting tired while she was in the rain and healing her when some small rocks would fly off the large boulders thrown at her scraping her but doing little damage. When she finally saw the Aggron collapse to a knee with his head lowered to the ground in shame... she felt bad for him but knew that he was the one making the other Pokémon suffer.

"(I get it... I lost...)" Aggron all but whispered in forfeit. Ichigo nodded and called Manaphy to his side. "You understand why you lost right?" Ichigo asked, but Aggron stayed silent. "You're arrogant, you think you're unbeatable and you think others are below you. You're wrong every single Pokémon on this island is equal no matter their strength, they all pooled their strength together and the made an amazing cavern which showed how they could do amazing things when working together. All you did was make others hate you, you made them suffer, you could do great things with your power if you used you power for the right reasons!" Ichigo shouted.

The Pokémon long since gathered and the elders were now stepping forward. "(Each of us are going to lead each of our species and work together for the better of our island, you may join our cause and help us improve our island or we could fight you, together our power out matches yours by a landslide and we will only give you this choice once!)" The eldest Metang said firmly with five other Metangs behind him and even more Beldums behind them.

Also there was the Steelix that told him about Groudon standing in front of a group of other Steelix and Onix. A small horde of Durants lined alongside a small group of Excadrills and Drilburs and Golem stood with many Geodudes and Graveler.

"(I understand... I understand I'm Arrogant; I let the power get the best of me because I was big, yet I was beaten by one who's small... I understand that I lose because I fight for myself... the small one fought for others and beat me soundly; I want to fight for others so that I can grow strong for them. I will accept your offer and I will help fight for those who need my strength...)" Aggron said quietly, it pained him to know how wrong he'd been, he'd been humbled by the trainer and his Pokémon and now he knew their strength... it was that they had to win, not for themselves but for others and not just fighting for their pride.

Gyarados used a flamethrower to melt the ice and Manaphy called off her rain dance, therefore allowing the Aggron to stand though he still looked ashamed. Ichigo smiled down to Manaphy who smiled up to him before jumping up into his arms.

"(You were amazing Papa, your timing for commands were perfect, you was confident and didn't hesitate you are going to be a great trainer!)" Manaphy exclaimed. Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "You're praising me? I should be praising you, you were amazing I couldn't have asked for better you truly are amazing Manaphy." Ichigo said softly causing the small Manaphy to hug him tightly.

"(He's right Manaphy you did a great job, no one else could have pulled that off.)" Pawniard admitted. "(I agree you were astounding.)" Gyarados praised his first friend. "(I'm sure that this was the start to you gaining your confidence in battle and this will be the beginning of you shining in battle.)" Metang said with confidence.

"(Thank you, all of you!)" Manaphy said beaming at all the praise. "I think we're done here, we should make our way to the next island." Ichigo said knowing that he had no reason to be here now. The others nodded, Gyarados returned himself along with Pawniard and Manaphy jumped atop Metangs head as he floated after Ichigo.

They arrived on the beach and looked out over the water deciding which island they should head to next, Ichigo pulled out his map and saw that there was an island that was a fair bit smaller than this one not too far away. "What do you think Mana? We could spend a few days on this next island and after looking around we could do some light training?" Ichigo asked, she happily nodded.

"(I really want to master my ice beam so any time for training will be fun!)" She stated Metang seemed to agree. Ichigo called out Gyarados and pointed to the island they wanted to go to, he nodded in understanding and Ichigo and Manaphy jumped on... but there was a problem.

"(It seems I'll have to return to my pokeball for this trip, it seems growing does have its disadvantages.)" Metang said and quickly returned himself. As they moved to the water they stopped when they heard a voice calling them.

"(Wait trainer!)" The booming voice of Aggron shouted, they all turned to see him bounding towards them. A small Aron was by his feet running alongside him and the rest of the steel Pokémon were watching from the tree line. Ichigo jumped of Gyarados to meet him and see if everything was okay.

"What's up, everything's okay right?" Ichigo asked he noticed the small Aron looking at him somewhat shyly hiding itself behind Aggrons leg. Aggron nodded to the question.

"(Everything is fine, I'm going to lead the Arons and Lairons and use my strength to help the island now, because that's where true strength lies, in the bonds you share with others. But this island has not seen danger from an outside force in a long time and I wish for my son to have his full potential unlocked and he seems to like you. So think of this as a favour young trainer, will you take this Aron and help him grow to be strong, he is still young and has trouble dealing with other Pokémon)" Aggron asked stepping to the side to show the small Aron that was shaking nervously under Ichigo's gaze.

"My names Ichigo, I will not force him to come with me, but if he wants to I will be happy to train him to the best of my abilities. So Aron what do you say would you like to become friends, we'll help each other grow stronger and I promise I'll take care of you." Ichigo said kneeling down to the small Pokémon.

The Aron looked up nervously. "(I want to grow strong like the others and you are a good trainer with strong Pokémon... I would like to join you.)" Aron said voice shaking; Ichigo could tell that this was a quiet Pokémon who didn't like strangers too much.

"Well then, I'm Ichigo and I'm happy to have a new friend." Ichigo said holding out a pokeball. The small Aron looked at it for a second before head butting it slightly and allowing himself to be caught. Ichigo smiled and turned to the Aggron.

"I'll take good care of him I promise." Ichigo said with a smile the Aggron nodded back to him with a small smile before turning and walking back to the other waiting Pokémon, Ichigo turned and walked back to Gyarados and without another look back they headed off into the waters towards the next island.

Ichigo smiled to himself, his family and team were growing and all had the potential to become powerful. Manaphy and Gyarados would be incredible combatants when fighting in and out the water, Metang with enough training could become an incredible psychic type not only have strong raged but also close combat attacks. Pawniard would be amazing against any psychic types and even having a move like Psycho cutter would boost his chances against other Pokémon. And if Aron's father was anything to go by he too would be incredibly powerful.

With quick glance at the island they were leaving behind, Ichigo could help but think about what would happen when he managed to go to the mainland, would it be as interesting as this? Or would it be a simple and boring... he hoped the former.

"(I can see the next island clearly now! It looks amazing!)" Manaphy shouted standing at her full height on Gyarados' head. Ichigo leaned to the side so he could see past Gyarados, and from what he saw he had to agree with Manaphy. High canopies of lush green forestation showed the mark for their next adventure.

* * *

**Now another big question I want to ask. I plan to give Ichigo a lot of Pokémon and I'd like to know what Pokémon you'd like to see him have, I have a list of Pokémon he'll be getting in the Karakura islands Arc but after that I want you guys to have to decide on most of the Pokémon he'll capture so leave a comment telling me what you think.**


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